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When I arrived in my Bishkek hostel (Kirghizstan), I was really wondering what I was doing there. There was no other traveller in the dorm and I got a bit anxious. Though, I had no choice but moving my ass. So I got over my fears, started to explore the place, and I had a wonderful time.
You know, sometimes, when you read guide books or embassies advices, you get the feeling that police officers will screw you, that food is gonna be rotten, and that Muslims will stone you, etc. etc. And of course nothing happens.

Flying from Kuala Lumpur to Kota Bharu, I suddenly realized I was flying Malaysian Airlines, just after the MH370 had vanished. I couldn’t help it but think about it, so I was glad when we finally landed.
On the other hand, after flying Uzbekistan Airlines on my way back from the Aral Sea, I found out that this company was having a record rate of fatal accidents. This is, finally, the only dangerous situation I really got into, without even knowing it.
Overall, I was very cautious in every decision I made because I didn’t want my trip to end prematurely, for a broken knee or whatever.

Any tip to be able to face all the different situations you’ve experienced ?

1. Observation. When you don’t speak a language, watch what others do and be flexible.
2. Be savvy, resourceful. An example? I used to dry my underwear with my external hard drive which was always getting too hot 🙂

Frankly, not really. I knew, more or less, what I would face, what it would take.
Though, two traits of mind surprised me.
First. I haven’t be able to forget my ‘’real’’ life and always kept in mind that I’d need to come back.
Secondly. On the other hand I’ve been able to give up on planning. Actually, I didn’t feel the need to plan the day or the week to come. The only thing I needed to think ahead was the length on y stay in a country because you need a return ticket when you enter a country.

That everything is possible. The world is an open playground, and I feel capable of doing basically anything. Sky is the limit.
I’ve been able to find my way in Russia where nobody speaks English or where there is nobody at all (Perm), to ride a Royal Enfield in Rajasthan, to get our of mud tracks with a damned scooter in South Java, to deal with unfriendly airport officers in Bangladesh, to explore Central Asia on my own in places where nobody goes…
I feel that I can try everything, go everywhere.

I wouldn’t say that. Finding the energy to move forward when my traveling companions were leaving was always a challenge. The only challenge actually. And, in that respect, receiving all kind of messages from my friends, through the blog and beyond the blog, has been decisive. I will never thank you enough guys !
I’ve been extremely surprised by the interactions triggered by my blog. All my friends, and beyond, have exchanged with me through this platform. Even though I’ve been away for a year, I’m closer to my folks now than I was before.

Not really. I didn’t miss my daily routine, my job or my apartment. I didn’t miss Paris, its traffic jam, pollution and aggressiveness… I only missed my folks, very much ! And my grandparents, I would have liked to share this experience with them, make them thrill one last time. Anyway. So, no, I didn’t miss Paris much, but I’m definitely very happy to be with my parents, friends and colleagues again.

Ah ah !
I’d like to take the Rallye des Gazelles Race- An orientation race in the morocco desert.
I’d like to take a boat license to be able to drive a barge across the European channels.
I’d like to ride a motorbike through the Pan-American road, from Ushuaia to Canada…I’d like to cruise in Polynesia like Cook or London, from Papua-Guinea to Chile…
I’d like to take my family to the moon…
There are so many of them that finally, the main challenge is gonna be to meet them all before I’m on a wheel chair… Though, I even think I will, then, organize wheel chairs competitions, that would make the end of our lives less depressing, don’t you think?

I don’t think so.
First of all, over the summer period, I will publish several portfolios, featuring my best pictures around different themes.
And then we will see… I have a couple of ideas, stay tuned!

I’ve travelled a lot by train over the last ten months. Almost 15 000 kilometers…
The distance I’ve done through planes seems impressive, but this is mainly because none of my flight form one country to another was a direct flight. For budget reasons, I was often taking two or three planes to reach a new destination…

Dear friends, readers, followers,
I have submitted 12 pictures to the National Geographic Photo Contest of the year.
If you’ve liked my pictures, can you please vote for them, like them on Facebook, share their links on your wall, or retweet my tweets (my Tweeter account being @MyScenicRailway) ?

Set in between India and China, the Malay coasts were a perfect connecting point for merchants of those two empires. Around the 1st century, the Indian influence became preponderant, local kings and populations converted to hinduism and buddhism.Ten centuries later, when a local kingdom – Sri Vijaya – expended to Thailand, the Philippines and Indonesia, the South India armies reacted and occupied the Malay Peninsula.The power of the buddhist maharajas will not be undermined before the 15th century, by the spread of islam…

Islam came to the Malay archipelago via Arab and Indian traders in the 13th century.
It arrived in the region gradually, and became the religion of the elite before it spread to the commoners.

The port of Malacca – on the west coast of the Malay Peninsula – was founded in 1402 by by Parameswara, a Srivijaya Prince.
A theory assesses that Parameswara became a Muslim when he married a Princess of Pasai (a sultanate on the North of Sumatra, Indonesia) and he took the fashionable Persian title “Shah”, calling himself Iskandar Shah.

Within a few years of its establishment, Malacca officially adopted Islam. Due to the fact Malacca was under a Muslim Prince, the conversion of Malays to Islam accelerated in the 15th century. The political power of the Malaccan Sultanate helped Islam’s rapid spread through the archipelago. Malacca was an important commercial centre during this time, attracting trade from around the region.

By the start of the 16th century, with Malaccan Sultanate in the Malay peninsula and parts of Sumatra, the Sultanate of Demak in Java, and other kingdoms around the Malay archipelago increasingly converting to Islam, it had become the dominant religion among Malays.
It reached as far as the modern-day Philippines, leaving Bali as an isolated outpost of Hinduism.

Malacca’s reign lasted little more than a century, but during this time became the established centre of Malay culture. Most future Malay states originated from this period. Malacca became a cultural centre, creating the matrix of the modern Malay culture: a blend of indigenous Malay and imported Indian, Chinese and Islamic elements.

I had always heard that when you change hemisphere, the water vortex in the sink, changes direction. Water leaves clockwise on one side of the earth, anti clockwise on the other side.

So, just before I had my flight for Australia, a ran the test, together with Gim Wee and her niece, my friends from Singapore – Here are my two accomplices.

At the beginning, we couldn’t see anything, but we had the good idea to add food colorants in the water. So, in case you don’t open your eyes while brushing your teeth, this is how it works in general :

Last week, before leaving Auckland, I ran the same taste, adding coffee to the water – sorry, this is not looking nice.

Do you see any difference ? No, you don’t !
And this is for a good reason : This story is a urban legend !!!

Contrary to popular misconception, water rotation in home bathrooms under normal circumstances is not related to the Coriolis effect or to the rotation of the earth, and no consistent difference in rotation direction between toilets in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres can be observed.

The Coriolis (*) effect can be helpful for understanding large-scale movements (such as storms, airplanes, and wind), but it’s inconsequential when it comes to something as small as a bathtub. The Coriolis effect is roughly 30 million times less significant than the force of gravity when it comes to describing water going down a typical drain.

(*) The Coriolis effect is a deflection of moving objects when they are viewed in a rotating reference frame. In a reference frame with clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the left of the motion of the object; in one with counter-clockwise rotation, the deflection is to the right.

Yes, this is Professor Nimbus speaking…

So, iI know this is a lot to process. Should you feel overwhelmed, just remember one thing THIS IS A URBAN LEGEND !

The firecrackers are known for their deafening explosions that are thought to scare away evil spirits. The burning of firecrackers also signifies a joyful time of year and has become an integral aspect of Chinese New Year celebrations.

Meanwhile, in Chinatown, people were queuing at the temple. I wasn’t there. The following day, Chinatown was empty, the perfect moment to contemplate the very well preserved buildings of Chinese culture.

People born in the Year of the Horse are clever, kind, animated and energetic. Although they sometimes talk too much, they are cheerful, perceptive, talented and love to be in the centre of a crowd. They are popular among friends, active at work and have a deft sense of humor…

Chinese new year good luck coins are everywhere !

They bring good fortune.

People would queue for hours at the above shop. For new year’s celebrations, it cooks thin caramelized slices of pork, delicious…

In that street, former tea houses. At the time they were forbidden to women.
The buildings have been amazingly well preserved.

in Chinatown, the indian temple and the muslim mosque are completely integrated to the celebrations !